New Delhi [India], June 9 (ANI): Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday alleged that subsidised cylinders under the Ujjwala scheme have been reduced from nine to four, adding that the price of domestic LPG cylinders has been increased by Rs 89 in the last 3 months.
Rahul Gandhi further said that the 5 kg cylinder has also been made Rs 323 more expensive and attacked the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government for the 'dire situation', saying that the government has forced poor families towards 'poisonous smoke of firewood stoves.'
'Twelve years of anti-poor economic policies and a compromised foreign policy have today pushed the country into such a dire situation where millions of poor families and women have been forced towards the poisonous smoke of firewood stoves,' Rahul Gandhi said in a post on X.
'The number of subsidised cylinders under the Ujjwala scheme has been reduced from 9 to 4. On top of that, the price of domestic LPG cylinders has been increased by 89 in the last 3 months - meaning, first hike the prices, then cut the subsidy, and snuff out the poor's hearth. The lifeline of migrant workers, the 5 kg cylinder, has also been made 323 more expensive - what will they earn, what will they eat, and what will they save?' he added.
https://x.com/RahulGandhi/status/2064334954851606857
Rahul Gandhi further accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of providing 'debt waivers worth millions of crores' to billionaire friends and said the government is 'passing the bill of failures onto the poor', calling it the 'Modi loot model'.
'Mr Modi, will only the poor bear the burden of your failures? Will only the workers, farmers, women, and middle class pay the price for this crumbling economy you've built?' he said.
Earlier, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge also criticised the government over rising LPG prices, stating that domestic cylinder prices have increased by Rs 89 in the past four months and that the common man is facing the burden of inflation.
'The rising domestic LPG prices are incinerating the kitchens of the common people. In the last four months, the Modi government has hiked the prices of domestic LPG cylinders by Rs 89,' he said.
'In 2025-26, 5.56 crore families under the Ujjwala scheme didn't get even one or a single Refill. Out of these, 3.30 crore didn't take even a single cylinder Refill. And this is even before the West Asia Crisis. Isn't this the result of the Modi government's loot? Mr. Modi and BJP leaders used to raise a ruckus about inflation during the UPA era. Isn't it true that the Modi government has increased domestic LPG prices by Rs 530 in 12 years? So why aren't BJP leaders sitting on the streets with cylinders now?' he asked further.
Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry said on Sunday that the Indian household continues to buy cooking gas much cheaper than the household in any neighbouring country, and far below the price paid in advanced economies such as the United States, Australia and Canada.
It said in a release that the beneficiary of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) pays an effective Rs 642 for a 14.2 kg cylinder, and the general consumer in Delhi pays Rs 942, against a cost to supply that has now risen to over Rs 1,600. (ANI)
